The Titanic Iceberg

Approximately 3,000 years ago, an iceberg began a slow drift from waters off the coast of

Greenland to where it would eventually make its deadly mark on history while floating

through the North Atlantic.

That night of infamy occurred on May 31, 1911, when this iceberg struck the Titanic (or the

Titanic struck it) and caused the ocean liner to sink, taking with it the souls of 1,503

passengers and crew.

The photo seen above was reportedly taken by Stephen Rehorek while onboard the MS

Bremen, on April 20, 1912,

Red paint still marked the ‘berg where it made contact with the Titanic. Although it was

estimated to be upwards of 30 meters in height in places (100 feet) above the water, it

would be the last thing this iceberg would be known for.

Scientists know that while the waters of the North Atlantic are extremely cold, they’re not

chilly enough to support an iceberg of this size for long.

It is estimated that Titanic’蝉 icy downfall would have been a melted memory before the

start of World War One in 1914.

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The Newspaper Boy Delivering the Titanic Disaster

This picture features a young newsboy standing outside the White Star Line offices in

London holding an Evening News poster with a ‘Titanic Disaster Great Loss of Life’

headline splashed across it.

It was taken on 16 April 1912, just one day after the Titanic’蝉 tragic sinking.

Just 16 years old when this picture was taken, Ned Parfett would be killed six years later

while serving with the British army in France.

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1970s Afghanistan College Girls

This early 1970s picture of Afghanistani women reading on a bench with fully exposed

legs crossed is an example of how things once were in a country known today for doing

everything it can to oppress women and rob them of their basic human rights.

However, what this photo doesn’t show are the millions of women of the time, who unlike

the leg-crossers in this picture, lived in rural areas and poorer cities who followed

guidelines more in line with what we think of Afghanistan today.

Yes, this photo does illustrate the fact that at a point in its history, Afghanistan allowed

some women more freedom.

The key word here is ‘some.’

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London's Tiniest Shoe Store

If you were ever wondering how small a proper store can be, then this shoe shop in

London is a fairly decent example.

This photo, taken in 1900, features the unnamed shopkeeper in his 1.2 square meter (13

square foot) in his very modest retail outlet.

Even though it’蝉 hard to picture, but shops not unlike the one featured here were not

uncommon to see along crowded city blocks in England’蝉 major cities.

In the late 20th century, the UK economy was becoming centered more and more around

the impact, and perks, of industrialization. The benefits had a trickle-down effect, with

services and consumer goods fueling smaller, independent business owners.

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Wooden Bathing Suits

A short-lived trend in the late 1920s, wooden bathing suits were part of a trend in

swimwear that was designed to help people who felt less comfortable in the water.

The suits were made of spruce and apparently helped keep less confident swimmers

afloat (German inventors did something similar with bicycle tires).

The women in the photo are the “Spruce Girls”, who modeled the suits at product events

for wood companies.

Despite their efforts, we still can’t imagine the suits were terribly comfortable, in the water

or out of it. This is definitely another example of a situation where fashion did not equal

comfort.

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Machu Picchu's First Photo Opportunity

If you scour the text and research papers surrounding its discovery, one of the new seven

wonders of the world might have been a royal estate.

Some scholars believe Peru’蝉 Machu Picchu (‘old peak’), a sacred city built around 1450

for the Inca king Pachacutec, might have been just that.

And it was found almost entirely by accident after a contingent from Yale University,

originally on a hunt for the Inca stronghold Vilcabamba, were informed by a farmer of

nearby ruins.

American archaeologist Hiram Bingham and his team of explorers arrived at the foot of

Machu Picchu by donkey in 1911. One of Bingham’蝉 first tasks was taking this picture.

The Boston Molasses Disaster

What happens when you hire a man who lacks an engineering or architectural

background to supervise the building of a 15-meter-tall (50 foot), 27-meter-diameter (90

foot) storage tank?

On January 15th, 1919, the North end of Boston, Massachusetts, found out just how

destructive a 7.5-meter-high (25 foot) wave of molasses is when the Purity Distilling

Company’蝉 storage tank containing the sticky substance exploded.

Nearly 9.5 mi;;ion liters (2.5 million gallons) of the viscous sweetener reached speeds of

up to 56 kilometers per hour (35 miles/hour), knocking buildings from their foundations,

trapping people and causing general havoc.

Over one hundred people were injured, 21 people were killed and one man was even

swept into the Boston Harbor.

Molasses fits into that class of liquids known as non-Newtonian fluids — when you apply

pressure, it moves more freely.

It took 80 thousand man-hours to clean up the spill (using salt water and a lot of patience),

and damages were valued at the equivalent of about one hundred million of today’蝉 U.S.

dollars.

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